In business, great ideas do not always win. The ideas that move forward are usually the ones that are explained clearly, connected to a real business need, and presented in a way that makes decision-making easier. That is why business storytelling matters so much. I am not talking about storytelling in the theatrical sense. I am talking about the ability to take data, insight, logic, and recommendations and shape them into a message that people can quickly understand, believe, and act on. This is something I care deeply about because I have seen it make a tremendous difference across category management, sales, marketing, analytics, and leadership teams. So often, the issue is not that the team lacks data. It is that the story is not landing.

In today’s business environment, most teams are not struggling because they lack data. They are struggling because they have too much of it — and not enough clarity on what it actually means. Dashboards, reports, syndicated data, internal sales data, shopper data, retailer data... it all sounds helpful, and it is. But data on its own doesn't create action. It does not create alignment. And it certainly does not guarantee better decisions. That only happens when data is translated into insight. The challenge is that many people are taught how to pull numbers, build charts, and summarize results — but not necessarily how to turn those outputs into meaningful business thinking. That is where the REAL VALUE lies.

Welcome to the exciting world of category management! This is where data transforms into gold for both Retailers and Suppliers/Manufacturers. With heaps of data at our fingertips, there are some key measures you should know about to make the most of it. In this blog I'll be covering the "Index" calculation.

In recent years, my primary focus has been in one specific, but large, competency area: development of the sales presentation. After receiving and fulfilling training requests from various clients to coordinate internal teams for insights-based storytelling, I've come to realize that the key to success involves creating engaging sales narratives - but it's not easy! These stories need to resonate, align, and make it easy for the retail audience to say yes, within the massive landscape of sales presentations they see every day. However, achieving this goal isn't solely the responsibility of the sales team—it requires collaboration from various departments to create impactful presentations. Consider this: numerous presentations originate in Marketing or Brand and are later customized by the sales team. Therefore, focusing solely on sales training doesn't address the fundamental issue of presentation development, which often starts with marketing and brand teams.

Do your team members possess the essential Excel skills for basic tasks? Excel stands as a crucial tool for analysts, sales professionals, category managers, and business individuals at large. While it might seem that everyone is familiar with Excel, the reality is different. Without foundational Excel skills, sales teams and category managers struggle to analyze their business effectively, administrators face challenges in creating comprehensive worksheets, and analysts may find fundamental concepts difficult to grasp. Additionally, there's the risk of errors and incorrect conclusions stemming from poorly constructed formulas and PivotTables. You might wonder, with automated reports available, why is Excel training necessary for organizations? The answer lies in the limitations of automated reports—they can't meet all needs. Meaningful analysis often requires data manipulation, cutting, formatting, and customization, necessitating strong foundational Excel skills. Consider a recent scenario where a client approached me about providing Excel skills training for their sales team. A sales manager had expressed concern about the team's inability to perform essential Excel tasks like formula writing, building PivotTables, and creating charts. Despite the assumption that everyone knows Excel, this proficiency was lacking. In response, I crafted a virtual training session covering Excel basics, including spreadsheet navigation, data sorting, formula writing (SUM, COUNT, RANK, UNIQUE), and creating charts and PivotTables. The session was optional, allowing those with existing proficiency to choose whether to attend. RESULTS? Due to high interest, I conducted two 3-hour sessions. The hands-on exercises focused on relevant scenarios for the sales team, incorporating data and item rank reports. Participants not only learned to create formulas but also gained insights into interpreting different KPIs. We used one of their extensive automated reports to build a practical PivotTable, bridging the gap between learning and application. Feedback from the sessions speaks volumes: "Best 3-hour lecture/class I’ve attended." "Time went by way too quickly!" "I learned many new things, i.e., formula building, shortcuts, and the importance of being clear on what I’m trying to say." "Handouts were helpful, and I will go back to reference them." Ask your team if they need Excel basics training! The response might surprise you. Learn more about Excel Virtual Team Training

Virtual meetings and presentations are not going away; even when we return to the office it's likely we'll continue to do much of our work and client transactions this way in the future. I’ve put together a list of steps to help you make your virtual meetings more productive and polished from beginning to end.

Integrating strategy into your analytics is one of the main areas most struggle with when doing their analytics — knowing what's relevant and what's not, what's a true insight and what's not. But if you know the secret sauce to bringing strategy into your analytics you’ll be able to turn your data and analysis into effective action to grow your business. And so I want to talk about pizza. Yes, you read that right — pizza.

This year spurred many changes, some of which will be lasting here at CMKG. We are a training company that teaches in many areas related to data & analytics, category management and presentation skills, primarily for retailers and suppliers. Last year required us to pivot our live classroom training into virtual training sessions in the online space – and I’d like to share more about that with you right now.

The shopper journey (or path to purchase) has changed, driven by our changing habits as we navigate through this pandemic. We need to understand these changes in the shopper journey from a big picture perspective and consider how they affect each of us, whether we are in category management, sales, marketing, shopper marketing, or retail operations. Because everything has changed.

When the pandemic first started and most of us moved to our home offices, we didn’t really think it would be a long-term thing. But working at home and being effective in the virtual space is now required in today’s business world. I’ve compiled 3 tips for you to improve your approach to virtual meetings right now.